A local council has rebutted claims that it ever supported building a new 3G sports pitch in its area.
Earley Town Council has hit back at ‘recent media reports’ that hint that it supported a plan to build a new 3G sports pitch at Laurel Park.
It is unclear which ‘media reports’ the town council is referring to.
Laurel Park had been suggested as a location to build a new sports pitch in the borough to upgrade sports facilities in the area.
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However, the leisure department at the borough council is re-assessing its options after a number of neighbours objected to Laurel Park being identified as a suggested site.
A statement on the Earley Town Council website says: “The Town Council is aware of recent media reports suggesting that Earley Town Council had supported plans to build a 3G sports pitch at Laurel Park, next to Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve.
“We would like to confirm that neither Earley Town Council nor any of its committees have discussed the 3G pitch proposal and the Town Council has never adopted a view on the matter.
“As was made clear to a local residents’ association, were information to be provided to Earley Town Council by Wokingham Borough Council or a planning application be submitted, this would be discussed at a meeting of the Town Council’s Planning Committee.
“The Town Council has not been provided with information relating to this proposal, therefore no discussion or decision has taken place.
“At no time did the officers of Earley Town Council have any information about the proposed 3G pitch, apart from what was in the public domain.”
The borough council is now re-assessing possible locations for the 3G pitch with the hope of identifying the best site.
It agreed to invest £300,000 in a new sports pitch in the borough at an executive committee meeting last June.
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Councillor John Halsall, the leader of Wokingham Borough Council, has clarified that the new pitch has to be in Earley according to a proposal to build a pitch in the area by the Football Foundation.
Alternative sites suggested include Maiden Erlegh School and Sol Joel Park.
Cllr Halsall (Conservative, Wargrave, Remenham & Ruscombe) said: “We were approached by the Football Foundation to increase the capacity of the football pitches in the Earley area.
“The Foundation said that if we found a successful site they have offered to grant fund it.
“The project is only in its inception. The proposals were pujt forward to the executive last June and put in the budget.”
He added that the council is seeking to find a suitable site that is the ‘most popular’ among footballers and residents.
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